//Song Family Reunion! Well, At Least Some Of The Family- A Kam Oneshot//
hey guys! happy holidays, heres a kam oneshot below the cut! enjoy!
contents: major kam fluff and angst on the side, tam’s childhood trauma, keefe’s childhood trauma, mai’s domestic abu$e, slight fedex, ro slaying the day, #fistbump
WARNING: MENTIONS OF DOMESTIC ABU$E, STAY SAFE!
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"Take that, you hooligan!"
The bright yellow beach ball knocks me on the head. It doesn't hurt much, but I am in a relatively good mood today- or as good as I can possibly be. I crumple to the ground onto the soft black sand of the Shores of Solace, letting out a sigh of defeat. A boy with bubblegum pink hair snickers from behind me.
I throw the beach ball at Fitz's head. He doesn't bother pretending to be hurt; he just laughs at me and Keefe.
"Ow," he giggles, throwing the beach ball back into Keefe's hands and plopping down on the soft ash-colored sand. He frowns, glancing at the pretentious mansion behind him. "How long do we have to do this?"
"Until Dad of the Year gets officially pissed." Keefe ruffles his sunny blonde hair and copies Fitz's frown. "Weird. He seems to be having more patience than usual today."
"I think you're making progress," I offer, pointing at the highest window where Lord Cassius, my boyfriend's father, rests his pathetic little feet. "See those curtains? He just closed them, but he can't block out the sound. It's only a matter of time before he caves."
"You would be making a point if you didn't say that half an hour ago. Besides, it's- what three hours till dinnertime? I have to get ready for a date," Fitz complains.
"Who takes three hours to get ready?" I mutter to myself, but loud enough for Keefe to hear.
"Fitz, apparently," Keefe snickers. Fitz flushes a dark crimson.
"For the record, your hair looks fine," Ro says from a bright green beach towel several feet away from us. "But if you want me to style it better-"
"I'm good, thanks," Fitz says before Ro could suggest some of her ideas. "But something tells me I'd look better without maggots burrowing into my scalp."
"Not maggots!" she corrects indignantly. "Just bacteria!"
"Very big bacteria," Keefe jokes. Fitz sighs in exasperation.
"Where do you have your date with Dex anyway?" I ask.
"Rimeshire," Fitz boasts before his mind could process my words well enough to correct himself. His face reddens the more Keefe rolls on the sand in laughing tears.
"Alright, you can go put your non-maggots in your hair if you'd like, Fitzy," Keefe teases. "No one's forcing you to be here."
"Considering Dex's questionable taste," Ro says, wrinkling her nose at Fitz, "maybe he would like maggots."
"Oooh, how well do maggots get along with tomples?"
"Alright, screw you guys," Fitz scoffs, holding up his leaping crystal to the sky. "Good luck on being a disappointment." And with those happy words, he glitters away into the afternoon sun.
"Alright, should we keep playing?" I am surprised to see Keefe looking at where Fitz used to stand with a wistful expression. Adopting an expression of concern, I sit up and walk over to him, resting a hand on his shoulder.
"What's wrong?" I ask him.
"It's just..." Keefe blinks, and I am startled to see tears running down his cheeks. "My whole life I've dreamed of having a nice family I could settle into. Like how Fitz settled in with Dex after his parents kicked him out. But I..." His ice-blue eyes meet mine, and I know what he is thinking.
"I know. My parents..." I pause, falling short of my arsenal of good words to phrase the truth. "Aren't ideal. I'm sorry." I turn away, feeling a sense of shame burying into my chest.
Keefe's eyes widen out of the corner of my eye just as Ro picks up her towel and moves further down the beach. He cups my face, pulling it towards him. "Hey, that's not what I meant. I'm so lucky to have you, and I couldn't ask for anything more. I just-"
"I could try."
Keefe's eyes widen again, and the look on his face is enough to stop my heart for a solid two seconds. The look of hope, of all the dreams he had stockpiled in his head from the moment he realized he never was going to find what he wanted, what he needed, in his own family of blood. "What?"
"I've been meaning to tell you this for a while, my parents have been trying to get in touch with me lately. Saying they've changed. I don't believe them, but if it means so much to you..."
Keefe smiles sadly. "Bangs Boy, you don't have to do that."
I know I don't have to. But the look of hope Keefe gave me planted a seed of determination inside my head. I am going to try, and nobody can change my mind.
***
"Bangs, I told you that you didn't have to do this."
Keefe pesters me with complaints as we walk hand in hand up to my parents' house, but he didn't refuse to follow me.
"I told you before, I want to. And hey, if things go wrong, the door will be right next to us, okay?" I turn around to look Keefe in the eyes. He smiles gratefully and pulls me into a warm hug.
"Thank you," he whispers with a fierce kind of passion. "I love you."
I allow myself to melt into his embrace. "Love you too, Keefe." Too soon I pull away, kissing his cheek and squeezing his hand. "Ready?"
"Ready." We reach the door and Keefe looks at me with concern. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
I elbow him in the side. "We're literally at the door. What do you think?"
Keefe shrugs. "Just making sure. Alright, you reunite with your family and tell me to come in when you're ready for me."
"Alright, see you soon." I kiss his cheek once more and knock on the door, waving fondly to him as he scampers to the safety of a potted plant.
The faint sound of footsteps down stairs, familiar voices. I told them I would be coming sometime today. I didn't mention Keefe. That wasn't my cleverest move. (Or maybe it was. The only thing I could do now was find out and see.)
I look around. The porch is covered with potted plants and overgrown vines blossoming Mom's favorite flowers that I remembered her sprinkling on teacakes because she thought they looked pretty that way. The porch has a strange mix of familiar and foreign qualities smashed together like the edges of two worlds colliding into one. Something about the porch makes my eyes well with tears, which I wipe away almost as quickly as they come.
My heart stops as I hear the unlocking of the door.
A familiar woman steps out of the house with soft, delicate features and smooth black hair. Her silvery blue eyes widen.
A pair of smooth arms engulf me into a hug, crushing me despite their small size. Teardrops drip down my neck and my tunic, the sound of quiet sobbing in my ear.
"Tammy, I've missed you." That was the nickname Mom called me before I left with Linh.
"I've missed you too, Mom," I whisper hoarsely in her ear, feeling tears fill my eyes again only to wipe them away with my finger.
When my mother finally pulls away, she holds my shoulder steady and looks into my eyes with the concern to make me crumple to the ground, after so many years of only getting that kind of look from Linh. "How have you been?"
That's a hard question to answer, I admit. I think of the Neverseen fights, the pain, the injuries, the feelings of loneliness and loss.
I think of the friends I made, the smiles I let spread across my face for once, the love I spent on so much more people than I could ever have imagined.
A ghost of a smile breezes past my lips. "I think I've been okay."
Mom smiles back at me, gesturing to the opened door behind her. "Would you like to come inside?"
I fight back a grimace. I know the veiled meaning behind those carefully crafted words. Mom wants to know if I want to see Dad. The truth? I don't. Not really.
I think of the disdainful looks my Dad gave me back when I was little, when I didn't have any reason not to love myself for who I was. I think of the way he treated my mom like garbage, bossing her around like she owed him something when the only thing she ever owed him was a kick to the testicles. I think of the way he treated Linh like a mini version of Mom, like gardening flowers and baking cakes was the only future the universe had in store for her. Mom treated Linh badly, but Dad was on a whole different level.
But then I think of the expression of happiness on Keefe's face when I told him I would be getting him what he wanted. No, what he deserved.
Oh, Keefe would be mad if he knew I did something I didn't want to do because of him. I bite my lip and push down the false words of consent I was ready to give. "No," I say.
I thought that Mom would be at least a little surprised. Perhaps even angry that I would get so far only to reject the company of my father. But she only hangs her head and looks at me with a face of understanding and tears. A snot bubble pokes out from her left nostril.
She throws her arms around me again, sobbing uncontrollably into my ear. I hug her back this time, wrapping my arms around her like a blanket. I feel a sharp pang realization in my chest, like a knife to the chest.Mom despises it here.
Eventually, she pulls away again, still crying her heart out. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be letting you comfort me on a day like this-"
"No," I say firmly. "No." I rest my hands on her shoulder and see her tear tracks. My gaze travels slightly downwards and my fists curl in anger.
An ugly blotch of violet is on her right cheek, barely concealed by a heavy layer of makeup. But it's there.
"Mom, has Dad been-"
Mom breaks down in tears again, digging her fingernails into my back. My mouth curls into a snarl and I patiently wait for her crying to cease.
"Tammy, what are you-"
I march into the house, up the carpeted stairs, and down the hall. My head pounds like the beat of a thousand drums and my blood boils so much I think my skull is going to explode.
Sure enough, Dad is there. In his office, with a book cradled in his hands. I walk up to himself, heaving furious breaths, and wait until he decides to stop ignoring his son and look up.
And then I punch him, square in the jaw. A groan crumples out of her mouth, dark red pouring out from his nose. I march back down the stairs, the pounding in my head starting to slow.
"Oh, Tammy," Mom cries out when I come back. Tears are still drenching her face, but slower this time. I think she has subconsciously realized that she has nothing left to spare for her husband- tears or anything else.
Mom suddenly stops crying, and I look at her in confusion. My eyebrows shoot up as I look at her face, blotchy and red. Her tears have washed off some of her makeup, revealing more of her bruise. I can't help but narrow my eyes at the marks my dad, no- Quan Song- made on her. But that's not the thing that catches my eye. On her face is a look I've never seen before. A look of pure fury.
She picks up a small potted flower on a table by the door. It's a pretty magenta one, generously watered and cared for.
Mom smashes the pretty flower on the porch, shattering the porcelain vase holding it. My jaw drops in sheer awe as one thought takes over inside my head.
Mai Song is not going to be Quan Song's perfect, pretty wife any longer.
I scowl at the image in my mind of Quan. Why did I even come here, if I knew how much of an ass he was?
I look back at the potted plant on the side of the house. A trace of messy blond hair waits patiently as it peeks out from behind pink flowers. I suppress a chuckle. Whether he is trying to make me laugh on purpose or simply terrible at hiding is beyond my knowledge. "Oh, um, Mom?"
Mom is staring at the shattered porcelain but eventually looks up to meet my gaze. I am shocked to see a toothy grin painted on her cheeks.
It's good to her see smile, after so long.
"I have someone I'd like you to meet."
I whistle, and a rascal of a blonde boy scurried out of the porch, ice-blue eyes flashing with excitement. He holds out a shaky, sweaty hand to my mother.
"Mom, this is Keefe Sencen. My boyfriend."
Mom's eyes widen, and for a second my heart is paralyzed with fear until Mom gives Keefe the most heartwarming smile in the world and gives him a fistbump.
Keefe's eyes widen too, maybe because of the out-of-character gesture or because of her grin. He recovers, barely, then returns the fistbump.
"Nice to meet you, Tam's boyfriend," Mom says warmly. "I'm going to take all the pies I baked for Quan and give them away. Would you like to share one with my son?"
Keefe's eyes fill with tears and just like my mom, he breaks down into tears, leaning on her shoulders (that Mom seems to hold a little higher than usual) for support.
Once Keefe stops crying, he looks at my mom with glassy eyes filled with joy. "I would love some pie."
Mom grins. "Great. I'm going to pack my bags and then we'll get out of here. Okay?"
Keefe barely manages a nod before breaking down into tears again, this time on my shoulder. After such an eventful day, it feels embarrassingly nice to feel his warmth on my skin. I suppress a blush and bury my head in my boyfriend's sunny blonde hair.
"Is this what it feels like?" Keefe whispers. "To be welcome?"
"I think so," I whisper back, clutching her back in my arms as the next round of tears comes.
Man, I'm really going to need to clean my shirt after this, I think to myself. I smile.
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